Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami

While Murakami’s new novel reads like a dream or a whispered ghost story, it is also one of the most real-to-life coming-of-age stories I’ve ever read. Thirty-something Tsukuru Tazaki has a pilgrimage to make—both real and into his past—and for all the familiarity of his youth, it becomes a land more foreign than he could ever imagine. Carefully placed, fueled by thoughtfulness and simplicity, this is a beautiful meditation—at once mysterious, devastating and incredibly moving. —Melinda